Spiritual direction is the process of assisting people to become more conscious of how God is working in their life and how they may become more responsive to God. The term "direction" does not imply that the director alone is the active partner in the relationship - the one who initiates, leads and instructs - while the one being directed is the passive receiver of the director's wisdom. In the process of spiritual direction the only true director is the Holy Spirit. The human director’s role is to help the person understand where the Spirit is leading him or her.
In the spiritual direction of candidates, the emphasis is on helping the person examine carefully the desire and attraction to become a priest or brother in the Society of Jesus, in an effort to discern whether this desire is from God; that is, whether God is calling the man now, or in the near future, to be a Jesuit.
What do people talk about with a spiritual director? Their experience in prayer, their sense of how God is working in their life and how their experience helps them to understand better where their relationship with God is leading them, their concerns, hopes, dreams and desires for their life.
Within the context of the Society of Jesus, the director will try to help the candidate clarify the origin and growth of the desire to be a Jesuit, and whether his sense of his vocation leads him toward being a priest or a brother, by guiding him through a reflection on his life of faith, his prayer, and his experience of God's grace. It may be somewhat difficult at the beginning of spiritual direction to put into words things that are very personal and interior, but with the help of the director this should become easier as the conversations unfold.
A vocation to any manner of religious life develops out of one's personal history. The spiritual director will benefit, therefore, from knowing a candidate’s background: family, friends, values, interests, and anything else that might be helpful.
Part of spiritual direction will also involve helping the candidate to learn more about the Society of Jesus in today's world. This greatly enhances the candidate’s ability to make an enlightened decision about the future.
How frequently does spiritual direction take place? In ideal circumstances, the candidate would meet with the spiritual director every three or four weeks for a period of four or five months. At the beginning of the direction, by mutual agreement, meetings may occur more often. In some cases direction is prolonged over a greater period of time, or it is reduced to a shorter time - to make, confirm or strengthen a decision on whether God is calling the candidate to life in the Society of Jesus.
What role does the spiritual director play in the formal application to the Society of Jesus? None. This is a special relationship that is entirely confidential. The spiritual director is not a member of the Admissions Board and does not participate in the Board's deliberation. He or she is never asked to supply an evaluation for the Jesuits. The work of the director is to help in the discernment of God's activity in the candidate's life.